


Trouble with Druids

by danke_rose



Category: Excalibur (Comic)
Genre: Camping, F/M, Meggan mentioned, Mild Language, Moira mentioned - Freeform, Out of Canon, Piotr mentioned, Sex, Smut, There's barely a plot, it's another get together romance full of smut, kurtty - Freeform, mentions of previous manipulation in relationships, pregnancy mentioned but no details, probably out of character, someone said I should write more smut so I did it, there was only one tent, timelines mean nothing to me, underwear is mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-26
Updated: 2019-09-26
Packaged: 2020-10-28 18:13:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20782940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danke_rose/pseuds/danke_rose
Summary: Set in the imaginary time after Excalibur didn't disband.  Pregnant Meggan tells Kurt and Kitty they need to help some druids and it requires a hike into the Scottish hills.  Of course, everything that can go wrong does, except one thing that goes very right.  Eventually.





	Trouble with Druids

**Author's Note:**

> For the warnings, be aware there will be a discussion about the evil princess Anjulie from Barsoom, who seduced Kurt with questionable means, and implied dubious consent there. I didn't think it warranted a rating for rape/non-con, but I want you to know it's in there. Proceed with caution if this is uncomfortable for you.
> 
> There is also discussion of Kitty killing Anjulie (which did happen in canon), but it's not graphic.
> 
> Meggan appears very briefly at the beginning, pregnant with Maggie.
> 
> Birth control/STDs are mentioned, but only in passing, but just so you know. Always practice safe sex and don't do what these two dorks do. Shame on them.
> 
> I've said in other works I don't normally write smut, but someone said the last one was good, so I figured I throw this one out into the world, too, in case someone wants to read it. I write pretty much for myself, what I want to read, but if you all like it, too, then that's just even more awesome. Enjoy this gratuitous romp. Essentially the plot is an excuse to get them alone, in a tent, in the rain. 
> 
> Is this realistic? Doubtful. Do I care? Not at all. I'm just out here having fun, so as always, suspension of disbelief is our friend. Enjoy!

Hiking into the Scottish hills looking for a hidden stone ring was not what Kitty had planned to do with her weekend. But when Meggan flew into the research facility with fear in her eyes, those plans had evaporated like Scottish mist in the morning sun.

Meggan and Brian had been married for almost a year, and she was expecting their first child. When she sat at the table telling her tale, she ran her hands over her swollen belly. When the baby kicked and pushed, Kitty could see the little outward dent of her foot. Meggan giggled, lost for a moment in the joy of coming motherhood.

“You wanna feel her kick?” Meggan asked Kitty, who laid a hand on Meggan's belly. The kicking stopped. “Always. Just wait. She'll do it again.” Kitty waited, looking over her shoulder at Kurt, waiting patiently with his arms crossed and tipping the chair back on two legs.

“Don't let Moira catch you,” Kitty advised. He dropped the chair to the floor with a crack, and under Kitty's hand, the baby jumped.

“Oh!” Kitty cried as the baby squirmed and pushed and rolled across Meggan's stomach like a rippling wave.

Meggan smiled widely at Kitty's enthusiasm, until she remembered she had something important she was supposed to be telling them. “The same druid who visited before—you remember? He was blue.”

“I remember,” Kitty said. She'd formed an inexplicable bond with him when she phased through him, and was compelled to build a portal for him. She didn't even know how she'd done it. The technology was too advanced even for her, coming as it had from another world.

“He came back. He said there's something wrong, some of the rings are broken.”

“Rings?” Kitty said.

“The stone rings. Like Stonehenge? That's what the druids use to travel from realm to realm. And because some are broken, they can't get home.”

“Can't he fix them?” Kurt asked, leaning forward at Meggan's insistence to feel the baby kicking. Kitty watched his face as it lit up, the baby's foot pushing on his hand.

“No,” Meggan said, shaking her head. “He's not in this realm right now. He sent a projection. The rings are broken and they're all trapped. But he told me where they are. The broken ones. We just have to find them and fix them.”

“All right. Sounds simple enough, though I'm sure it won't be. Where are the rings, Meggan?” Kurt said, taking his hand away and tipping the chair again.

“I brought a map. Brian helped me make it.” She pulled it out of her pocket and unfolded it on the table. “Here,” she pointed to a section circled in yellow.

“That's a rather big area,” Kurt said, raising one skeptical brow.

“It's not really.” She showed them where the clearings were, and the river and explained the rings were in one of them. “That's why the circle is big. I just don't know which clearing it is. And I can't go up there myself to find it,” she said, gesturing at her stomach.

“Looks like we're taking a trip, _Kätzchen_. I'll prep the Runner.”

“Oh, wait, Kurt.” Meggan's face blushed prettily. “There isn't anywhere to land and also the engines wreck up nature when you get too close.”

“What is it exactly you are asking us to do, Meggan?” Kurt said, leaning forward on the table, his tail twitching back and forth in mild annoyance.

“Well you _see_, I would _fly_ up there...but you can't fly...so.”

He waited.

Kitty tried not to laugh. Meggan looked nervous, but Kurt tapped one finger patiently as he waited for her to say whatever was on her mind.

“You have to hike,” she said all in a rush.

Kitty laughed. Kurt sat back slowly and gave her a wry look.

“It's not _that_ bad, Kurt. It'll be like...like camping.”

“It will _be_ camping,” he said. “That's not my concern. My concern is there are only the two of us available right now. Neither of us is exactly Superman.”

Meggan looked confused.

“Stone, you said. Like Stonehenge. If they're broken, you want _me_ and _Kitty_ to fix them? How strong do you think we are?”

“Hey!” Kitty objected, giving him a playful shove. He fell dramatically to one side as if she were much stronger than she really was.

“Never mind, Kitty can lift them,” he said as he righted himself.

“Well...we have to at least try, right?” Meggan said.

Kurt stood up, chuckling and smiling. “_Ja_, of course we do. I'll go dig out the backpacks.”

When he left, Meggan and Kitty giggled. “He's not _mad_, is he?” Meggan asked, beginning to look worried.

“Nah. Just annoyed that Moira took the rest of our team with her for her conference and didn't tell him til the day they left.

“Oh...”

“Yeah, she said she forgot. Maybe she did, I don't know. She even took Piotr.”

“Why'd she do that?”

“I really don't know. Heavy lifting?” Kitty didn't care, either. She was happy to have the place to themselves. She and Kurt didn't have a lot of time to hang out together, just the two of them. She would gladly take whatever she could get. The little crush on him she'd nursed since before she and Pete Wisdom dated had snowballed into something else, and while it sometimes kept her up at night, wishing and hoping, most of the time she managed to ignore it.

Who was she kidding? She couldn't ignore it. She got chills when he touched her hand, and she couldn't eat when he looked into her eyes in the middle of a serious story when his voice got low and husky.

  
  


Meggan stayed the night, visiting with her former teammates while they packed tents and tools and food for what could be quite a long hike. Moira had a small electric cart they could take the first half of the trip, saving them from trekking all the way from the research center. It was small enough to be taken across on the ferry, and from there it was easy access to the hills.

The three of them put on a movie after dinner and cuddled up on the couch to watch it. Meggan put her feet up on a pile of cushions and Kitty tucked hers up on the couch and they both leaned on Kurt and hogged the popcorn, which he had trouble reaching with his arms around each of them.

Kitty smacked his tail away when he went to scoop some out with it. “Did you wash that thing?” she said, and he tucked it down the couch beside her. She laughed. “Poor Fuzzy. Life's hard.”

“_Ja_. What a shame I'm stuck here between two beautiful women.”

She tossed some popcorn at him and he caught it.

  
  


In the morning, Meggan left and she and Kurt packed up the electric cart. The ferry ride was easy, the water calm today.

“You have the map, right?” Kitty said as the ferry pulled away from the dock.

“_You_ have it.”

“I don't have it, I gave it to you!”

He looked blankly at her for a heartbeat, then disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to return a minute later. He stuffed the map into Kitty's bag.

“You _do_ have it.”

Kitty rolled her eyes and poked him until he wiggled away. They stood at the railing facing the mainland and the wind blew in their faces. It smelled of sea and salt and a little of dead fish, but the weather was perfect. Kurt stood shoulder to shoulder with her, occasionally patting her hand or bumping her hip as they talked. She loved being alone with him.

The cart whined slightly when they drove it off the ferry and into the parking lot. Kitty pulled out the map and they worked out where they needed to go. Kitty wasn't at all worried about getting lost, not with Kurt. He always knew where he was. She let him drive and crossed her ankles on the dash of the little cart.

  
  


Kurt glanced at Kitty, reclining in the seat with her feet on the dash like she was at home. She wore a slight smile and her eyes were shut. She looked so relaxed, it was easy to put out of his mind that this was a mission. It could so easily have been a vacation, just the two of them. He let his imagination run with that thought, hotels and tourist spots and Kitty.

As they drove up into the hills, the wind blew a little freer through the cart, no doors or windows to block it, and Kitty pulled her hair back. It still whipped about, lashing her in the face. She grabbed it in a fist.

“I should cut it off,” she said, slapping at the strands that blew into her eyes.

“I like your hair, but if you want to cut it, I'm sure it will still look pretty.” He pulled a strand out of his mouth. “There might be a pair of scissors in here somewhere...”

“You gonna shave your head again, too?”

“Not likely. It was fun for a while, but I think I prefer the curls.”

“Yeah, they're cute.” If she hadn't been fighting her hair, she might have blushed at being so forward, but he didn't seem to take it as anything meaningful.

The motor whined and then stopped with a clank. Kurt turned the key again but nothing happened. They got out, and Kitty checked the battery cables and wiring while Kurt made sure there was nothing in the motor.

“I think the battery's dead,” Kitty said. She opened the compartment to get out the spare, but the compartment was empty. “Clearly we did not plan this excursion very well.” She put her hands on her hips and looked at Kurt. “Any chance it's the engine instead?”

“_Nein_, not that I can tell.”

There was nothing to do except walk. They grabbed their packs and started hiking. “How much does this add to our hike?” Kitty asked.

“Hmm, about half a day.” As the sun rose higher, the breeze let up and Kitty immediately wished it would return. Sweat trickled down her back but Kurt's spirits were still high, and she listened to him humming a song.

“What is it?” she asked as they came to a wide place and she could move up next to him.

“Oh, some Fred Astaire song about dancing.” He hummed a few more notes.

“It's nice,” she said.

At noon they stopped and ate. “So how exactly are we gonna repair this ring?” Kitty said around a mouthful of sandwich. “Or rings?”

“I honestly have no idea. If the stones are large, there's no way we can move them or lift them alone. This whole trip could be for nothing.”

“Maybe they're just broken and we can superglue 'em.”

He laughed and started gathering up the remains of their meal, tucking trash into his pack.

“Did you ever go on hikes when you were a kid?” Kitty said.

“A few times, short ones. Ah, but there was _one_...”

“What? Tell me!” When he started a story like that, it was bound to be a good one. Kurt had the best stories. Kitty's were all about piano lessons she snuck out of, or arguing with her academic advisers over which college credit courses they'd let her take in her freshman year of high school.

“I was around eight, and Stephan and I decided to go explore some hills just beyond where we were camped. Not far, but enough so Margali wouldn't hear us if we decided to play cowboys or something. We snuck off, not hard to do in a circus caravan. We stayed out past dark, until Margali sent Jimaine to fetch us. We hid behind trees, and jumped out at her. Stephan chased her towards me, and then I jumped out, and she kept running until she fell into the creek.”

“That's awful!”

“_Ja_, we were both grounded for a week for that.”

“You two were so mean to her. It's a wonder you managed to stay friends much less...y'know. _Date_.”

He laughed, but it sounded a little less comfortable. “_Ja_, well, as we grew up, we stopped playing so many pranks on her. And, er, she got back at us plenty.”

Kitty grabbed his hand and shook it up and down. “What'd she do?” He shook his head. “Oh, come on, tell me! I'll tell you a story.”

“I've heard all your stories, _Kätzchen_.”

“That's a sign of true friendship, y'know. How 'bout a backrub instead? _Come_ _on_, just tell me what she did!”

He pulled his hand away and adjusted his backpack. “She hid all of our underwear.”

Kitty laughed so hard she had to stop walking. Kurt stopped and waited for her, tapping his foot in mock impatience. “Now, _Kätzchen_, be careful what you find so funny, or I might have to pay you back.”

“Oh _please_, you'd never do that to me.”

He seemed to flush and stepped back apace. “No, of course not...that's not what I _meant_. I meant I'd prank you...”

Kitty took a long, deep breath and rejoined him, patting his arm. “Relax. I didn't know underwear was such a touchy subject for you.” She was still teasing, but he was honestly flustered and she didn't know why.

“It's _not_, it's...could we talk about something else?” The images he conjured of Kitty with no underwear were spinning in his head, tormenting him.

“Okay so what else did she do?”

“Amanda? Well...oh, well there was one time she caught Stephan under the bleachers eating popcorn.”

“Ew! Dirty popcorn! That's disgusting!”

“_Nein_! Not dirty popcorn, he had stolen some from the popcorn man and took it under the bleachers to eat it. He also had candy.”

“I bet Margali got him for that one.”

“No, she never found out.”

“What?”

“Amanda made him share instead.”

They stopped for a snack and when Kitty pulled out her water bottle, she discovered it had leaked all over her pack.

“Aw, shit, look at this. Everything is soaked.”

“This trip is cursed,” Kurt said. He was joking, but it did seem the trip had been prone to quite a few mishaps already. Kitty stuffed the wet things back in her pack and opened her other water bottle carefully. Once they found a stream, she could refill it, using the filter included to make sure she didn't drink dirt particles.

The sun dipped behind a cloud, and Kitty was glad for the relief. Hopefully the sweaty shirt she had on would dry enough to sleep in, since everything else was wet now. It had been a two-day hike before the cart broke down, and now even longer. Maybe she could lay her clothes out to dry overnight.

At dinner time they stopped and set up the first campsite. Once their tents were set up, they made a small fire pit and threw their meals in to cook.

“My dad once set up a tent in the back yard,” Kitty said as she turned her aluminum packet over to cook the other side. “We took sleeping bags out there and ate hot dogs and chips until it got dark. Then when it was time to sleep, I cried until he took me back inside to my bed.”

“You don't plan to do that tonight, do you?” Kurt teased.

“I was _five_, Kurt.”

“I like being outside,” he said, changing the subject a little. “I often slept on the roof of the wagon on clear nights. I'd stare up at the stars.”

“Did you ever fall off?”

“No, never. The roof was very flat.”

Kitty looked up. Tree branches obscured the view of the sky, and she could not see any stars. There was only the light of the fire, no moon. “Too many trees,” she said, and Kurt looked up too.

“_Ja_, and cloudy.”

Kitty looked from the sky to Kurt's profile as he studied the clouds above them. The flickering firelight danced across the fur on his neck and chin and when he tipped his head back down, the shadows on his face changed and shifted. He looked other-worldly.

“Everything all right? I haven't sprouted...well I was going to say fur and fangs, but...” He held his arms out and grinned. “Perhaps I'm a werewolf already?”

Kitty ate her last bite of burger. “Nah. Werewolves aren't blue. And they only come out during a full moon. Plus they have a tendency to eat people, so...”

He lunged at her so quickly she fell backwards with a shriek. He caught her wrist, and Kitty shoved him. “You asshole!” she said, but she was laughing.

“Apologies, _schatzi_, I didn't mean to scare you so completely.”

“You didn't scare me, you just surprised me. Those are totally different things,” she said, smoothing her shirt and her hair for something to do with her hands.

Before Kurt doused the fire, they packed up everything from their meal, and unrolled their sleeping bags.

“Good night,” she said as she flicked on her battery powered lantern.

“_Gute Nacht, Kätzchen_. Sleep well.”

  
  


Kitty woke to the sound of thunder and a puddle of water beneath her in the tent. Rain leaked in through the top of the tent, running down the sides in rivulets, and spraying across her when the wind blew hard. Kitty slapped her hand around looking for her lantern and once on, she could see the rip in the top of the tent. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She was soaking wet, already shivering, and her sleeping bag was ruined. Her pack, already full of damp clothes, was thoroughly soaked along the bottom.

Somewhere she had a patch kit, and she dug around for it by lantern light until she found it. Outside, the rain came down in sheets, stinging her face and slapping her hair against her cheeks. It was cold, too, and her trembling hands and chilled fingers had trouble holding the patch kit. The tent flapped at the rip, and every time she tried to seal the two pieces together, it tore farther.

“Dammit,” she muttered under her breath.

“_Kätzchen_?” came Kurt's bleary voice from his tent. He poked his head out, shielding his eyes from the rain, then joined her, his pajamas soaking almost instantly.

He took one look at the gash and pulled her hand away. “That's work for the morning, come on, let's get out of this rain.” He dragged her, protesting weakly, into his own tent, squeezing in tightly at one end.

“Dammit, I'm dripping everywhere,” she grumbled. Kurt was already pulling off his wet things without modesty, and there was really no other option at that point. Kitty struggled with her soaked pants, finally kicking them off. He rummaged in his bag and pulled out a t-shirt.

“Here,” he said as he handed it to her, and turned around. In the glow of the lantern, she could see the bones of his flexible spine where he was hunched over. His briefs were soaked, and the blue of his fur made the white cotton appear a paler shade of blue.

Kitty pulled her shirt off, and slipped Kurt's over her head. It was a little loose, and it smelled like him. “What do we do with this wet stuff?” she asked, his cue to turn around. She had shoved it all in a corner to avoid making the sleeping bag any wetter than it was.

He seemed to think her solution was fine, having stuffed his own wet things in a corner as well.

Kitty sat down on the end of Kurt's sleeping bag, her wet hair dripping onto the once-dry t-shirt. “This trip is a disaster,” she muttered, and shivered.

“You're freezing, get in,” he said, holding open the flap of the sleeping bag. She hesitated briefly before deciding she was too cold and wet to let propriety stop her. She scooted up and tucked her feet in. “What about you?” There was room for both of them to lie down in the tent, but not in the sleeping bag. He started to lie down on the bottom of the tent, but Kitty shook her head.

“No way, this is _your_ tent.” She unzipped the sleeping bag all the way and scooted to one side, making room for him to lie on it with her. He stared at her a long time without moving, his face some mixture of uncertainty and fear and something else she couldn't quite place.

“It's okay,” she said softly. He moved closer to her, and she pulled the not-quite-big-enough top half of the sleeping bag over them, pressing as close to him as she could. He hadn't put anything else on.

“You don't have a spare shirt?” she said.

“You're wearing it.”

“Oh.”

Poor planning indeed. Kurt turned the lamp off, and they lay in the dark, Kitty's breath ghosting over the fur at his collarbone. She pressed her fingers into the fur of his chest and he gasped.

“Like ice,” he said, and brought his hands up to cover hers. Kitty couldn't see anything, she could only hear the sound of the rain and his breath and his heart; she could only feel the soft fur of his skin and the warmth of his hands. He pushed hair back from her face and tucked it behind her head.

Kitty laid her cheek against his chest, and his heartbeat echoed in her ear. He was so soft and warm, his arm around her was comforting and safe and he was all but naked in this tent with her, wearing only his t-shirt and a wet pair of underpants.

“Getting warmer?” he asked in that low, husky voice that gave her goosebumps.

She nodded slowly and rubbed her cheek against him, letting her lips brush over the velvety fuzz. “Thanks.”

“Anything for you, _schatz_,” he said.

“Anything?” she whispered back, and he didn't answer right away. Kitty's heart was a drum beating too fast, and she couldn't manage a full breath.

“_Ja_,” he said at last, and his thumb touched her cheek, finger tracing her jawline as his thumb passed over her lips so softly she parted them in pleasure.

She laid her hands flat against his chest, moving slowly across his shoulders and down the arm she could reach, feeling each lean muscle and hard bone before moving back up and around to hold him.

He kissed the top of her head and she tipped her face up, searching the dark for his features. She could see only the glow of his eyes in the dark. The rest of him simply didn't exist. She waited, watching his eyes, to see if he would kiss her. He didn't move, his hand was frozen on her arm, the other cradled beneath her head lay still in her hair.

She moved her hips closer and saw the golden eyes widen slightly. Her hand moved down his side, over his hip, and she felt the bone jutting out there. She wondered idly if he ate enough before slowly easing her hand around his back towards his tail. She found the base of it, circled it with her fingers, ran her fingers flat along the underside, just at the top of his buttocks. Boldly, she let her hand slip down farther, across smooth damp cotton covering taut muscles.

Her eyes never left his, and he never said a word.

“Kurt?” she whispered his name, a request for anything. For everything.

His mouth touched hers, soft, warm lips, and she parted hers and kissed him. His hand moved over her back, under the shirt, across her backside. He slipped his hand underneath and cupped her bottom, chilled from the wet underwear as he slid it down farther with each pass of his hands over her skin.

She moaned softly, and it was all the encouragement he needed. He pulled her panties down farther, then began pushing the shirt up, pressing his naked chest to hers, and Kitty phased it off. When he felt her bare skin press along the full length of his body, he groaned and pulled her mouth to his roughly, his tongue pressing inside and his hands running over every inch of her.

He eased her to her back, and Kitty tugged at his briefs before giving up on getting the damp things off him and phased them too. She gasped when she felt him hard and ready, pressing against her belly and moving between her thighs as he kissed her. One hand moved over her breast, teasing the nipple to a hard peak, while the other caressed her face.

“Kurt, _please_,” she whimpered when his mouth moved down to her neck, sucking his way to the dip in her shoulder.

“Anything,” he replied, and she drew her knees alongside his hips. He made a sound that was half pain and half need, and kissed her chest more urgently, sucking one nipple into his mouth carefully, fangs barely scraping tender flesh. She arched her back and ran her fingers through his hair, the curls she liked. She was glad for them, to hold him where she wanted him.

One hand dipped between her legs, slipping along flesh that was already begging for his touch, and Kitty whined, pressing her hips against him insistently. “Please,” she said again, and his thumb pressed against her as his fingers slid inside easily.

“_Gott_, _Kätzchen_,” he murmured, still sucking at her breast.

Need coiled in her stomach, moving lower and lower as he touched her. Thick fingers stroked her closer to the edge and he moved to her neck to nip gently at her throat. She whimpered and moaned with every stroke until with a flash, the pleasure broke through and she clutched his shoulders, knees shaking as she clenched desperately at his hand.

His mouth covered hers as he moved, shifting his hips and positioning himself between her knees. She reached down and slapped her hand over his backside, and he pushed into her in one motion. Kitty threw her head back, groaning in pleasure as he filled her. He moved slowly at first, a tease to her sensitized nerves, and she bucked against him, wanting more. She kept her hand on his buttock, feeling the muscle tighten and loosen as he thrust into her again and again, more and more erratic. She slid her hand over to his tail, tracing the base with one finger, and he growled in her ear, and a ribbon of electricity uncurled in her abdomen. He thrust again, harder, and again, groaning and shuddering, before stopping, chest heaving above her.

Kurt gazed down at her, his mind slowly coming back into function, and realized what they'd just done. Panic fluttered in his chest a moment, until she slid her hands up his back again, and kissed him.

  
  


They didn't bother to dress afterwards, falling asleep in each other's arms, sticky and sweaty, and sated. Kurt woke before her, and lay awake wondering what the hell had gotten into them and what would happen now. There was no way this meant anything. She was just cold, and probably lonely, and he was here and available. He was safe, too, he wouldn't hurt her, wouldn't leave her, and he thought she must know that. Was this all she wanted from him? A few moments of pleasure? He'd told her he'd give her anything, and he'd meant it. He still did. But what if she wanted him to leave her?

She began to stir, and as she came awake, his nerves began to fray. What should he say? What should he do? Thoughts raced madly through his mind, trying to come up with every possible scenario and failing.

She pushed her cheek against his chest, nuzzling into the fuzz, and he treasured the moment of affection. It was only a matter of moments before she would wake completely and realize what he'd done.

“Hi,” she said.

He worked his tongue around his mouth a time or two before answering. “_Guten_ _Morgen_.”

She picked her head up and looked at him, morning sunlight letting her see his features again. “It stopped raining.”

“_Ja_.”

“Are you okay?”

“_Ja_.”

“You're not okay.” She sat up, giving him a brief glimpse of her breasts before turning to pull his shirt over her head. He lay on his back still, watching her face for signs of distress. She tucked her knees to the side and her hair behind her ear and yawned.

When she looked back at him, she seemed nervous, and she twisted her hands in the hem of his shirt, treating him to tempting glimpses of her bare legs and more. He felt his body reacting, and sat up before he could cause more trouble. “I'm sorry,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oh. Well, it...it was _my_ fault. I started it. I should be the one who's sorry, I guess.”

He shook his head. “_Nein_, I know better, I didn't have to...”

“Give me anything?” she said, and her face fell. “No, I guess not.” That sick twisting feeling started in her chest, the same one she felt whenever someone was about to give her really bad news. “It's about Illyana...” said the professor. “And now in a tragic twist of fate, the X-Men have been slain in Dallas...” She waited for him to tell her it hadn't meant _anything_, that it didn't need to stop them from being friends. That it was a mistake.

“I shouldn't have let it go so far,” he said. “It was—”

“A mistake?” she blurted, her voice harder than she meant. “Yeah. Yeah it _was_. It sure was.”

She backed out of the tent, grabbing her still rain-damp underpants as she did, slipping them on outside in the growing morning light. He followed her, grabbed her shoulders and turning her to face him. She had started to cry.

“I never meant to hurt you,” he said. “I would _never_ want to do that.”

“I know that,” she said. “I know. It's fine. I'll be fine. I just need a minute.” She ducked her shoulders from under his grip and walked away.

He let her go, his t-shirt pulled taut as she wrapped her arms around her stomach. Kurt returned to the tent to find his clothes. She stayed away a long time, long enough for him to patch her tent properly and dump the water out of it. He wasn't sure it would be usable, but if it didn't rain it might be. Her sleeping bag was soaked through, and he began squeezing the water out of it, hoping to make it lighter for the remainder of the hike. They still had another day of walking and one more night, and that was before they repaired the stones and went back. Two more nights. This was a disaster. A nightmare. What was he going to do? He loved her too much to let this come between them, but how could it not?

Kitty understood too well what had happened. He had done what she wanted. He said he'd give her anything and she had taken it. Oh god, what must he think of her now? She had thought, or hoped, at first that he felt the same as she did, that he loved her. She'd been so wrong. And now what? They had this mission to complete, at least three more nights alone, possibly in only one tent. She let herself cry for a few minutes to get it out of her system. Then she made up her mind to tough it out. So they'd had sex? He'd get over it and she'd have to, too. Fine. She could do it.

She returned to find him wringing out the sleeping bag from her tent, always thoughtful. He looked concerned as she approached.

“Kitty—” he began, but she stopped him.

“I'm fine. Everything is _fine_. Last night was just a mistake. No biggie.” What was she even saying?

He faltered a moment before nodding. “_Ja_. Yes. All right.”

Breakfast was silent, except for occasional polite words before they packed up. Kitty's pants were still damp from her bag but the ones from last night were soaked. She put on one of her own shirts and gave Kurt his back. His only spare, she grumbled. Typical man, if he'd had another, he wouldn't have been half-naked lying next to her...it wouldn't have mattered. It wouldn't have changed anything at all.

She trudged along behind Kurt, not paying attention to her surroundings or much of anything else. They barely spoke at all until lunch. Kitty decided that was enough of that. They couldn't go on like this. She sat down across from him to eat and steeled herself.

“This is stupid,” she said.

He glanced at her in confusion. “_Was_?”

“This. Us not talking. It's stupid. Let's not do it anymore.”

“Uh, okay?”

“I mean, it's not like either of us cheated on someone.” She felt a little jolt of panic threading through her veins. “Oh shit, you aren't with Amanda again, are you?

He shook his head adamantly. “Very much _not_.”

“Oh thank god. Then, okay, so we're fine then.” She nodded her head, as if she could make it more true by agreeing with herself.

“Yes. Fine.”

They finished lunch in silence.

By dinnertime, Kitty was upset again. Kurt started putting his tent up, and Kitty started on hers, but got only halfway before she threw down the poles.

“I can't do this,” she said.

“You did it yesterday,” he said.

“Not the tent. _Us_. I hate this and I'm _not_ okay.”

“I am not either.”

“But why? If this was just a mistake and meant nothing, then why are we both so _not_ okay?” She rubbed her eyes to keep the tears at bay. This was awful. She loved him, she didn't want to pretend she didn't anymore.

He finished his tent and let his hands fall to his sides.

His voice was very quiet when he finally spoke. “It was not nothing to me.”

She jerked her head up. “It wasn't nothing to me, either,” she said. “It wasn't a mistake and it wasn't nothing. I don't sleep around. Do you think I do that? I _don't_. I love you, you stupid elf, and if this—”

He cut her off. “I love you, too.”

“—if this—what? What? Are you serious?”

He shrugged. “_Ja_?”

“Then what's wrong with us?” Kitty wanted to scream. All day they'd been like this, in hell, in torment, and for nothing?

He laughed a soft, sad sound, and she crossed to where he was. The bad day didn't matter anymore if he loved her.

“I love you,” she said.

“_Kätzchen_, I love you.” He pulled her to him, covering her mouth with his. She twisted her fingers into his hair, pressed as close as she could get to him, as his hands glided over her hips and her back.

“Oh god, Kurt, let's eat later,” she said as she nipped at his lip. He lifted her easily and spun around, dipping into his tent and almost falling to his knees above her. Kitty was already pulling off her clothes, desperate to feel him against her and see him this time. He fumbled with his pants, laughed at his clumsy fingers, and she pulled him down to her and phased them off. Kitty ran her legs over his, angling her hips so they cradled him in just the right way, making him moan against her neck as he suckled there. His hands seemed to be everywhere at once, she couldn't think of anything except how he felt. It was wanton, to be out in the wilds of Scotland like this, her knees spread open and her best friend licking a path between her breasts. Her skin chilled where he passed over her, and she shivered. He stretched out over her, pressing his stomach against hers and cradling her face in his hands.

“This morning,” he said, and she shook her head, tried to shush him, but he would not be deterred. “I let myself believe you could not love me. Even now, it is still...it is still _incredible_. Why me, _Kätzchen_? I cannot give you anything you want.”

“You are the _only_ one who can give me what I want, because I want _you_.”

She smoothed his hair back, playing with the curls, and then tracing one thin pointed ear tip. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, and he laid his forehead against her chest.

“Please don't tell me I can't have what I want just because it's you,” she said.

He shook his head gently and pressed a kiss to her collarbone. “I can deny you nothing,” he said.

“That's dangerous,” she said with a smirk. “What if I asked you for a sports car?”

“What brand?”

“Or a pool filled with those plastic balls kids jump in at Chuck E Cheese?”

He looked down at her with absolute confusion on his face. “I have no idea what you mean, but I will figure it out.”

Kitty laughed, and pulled him down to kiss him.

  
  


Dinner was much more pleasant than the previous two meals, and afterwards they looked at the map and chose the clearing they'd head towards first. Hopefully they'd find a situation they could rectify, otherwise, they'd have to wait for Moira to return with Piotr, and make the trek all over again. If they had to do this again, he'd take the Runner, and to hell with what Meggan had to say about it.

When it got late, there was no question about sleeping arrangements as Kitty snuggled close to Kurt. He had Meggan on his mind, and from there his mind made a drastic leap. Kitty had just cuddled down against his chest, and he was softly nuzzling her hair as she twined and untwined her fingers with his.

“Kitty?”

“Hm?”

“Are you on birth control?”

“Of course.”

“_Danke Gott_. It only just dawned on me, and we've not had any protection.”

“We're good.”

“So you know, the last time Amanda cheated, I had myself thoroughly tested and everything is clear.”

“That's good to know. I'm sorry she did that to you.”

“I'm not.”

“No?”

“I would not be here with you if she hadn't.” He pulled her impossibly closer. “She wasn't good to me, or _for_ me, and yet, I stayed because...”

She turned in his arms and tucked her knees between his. “I'm glad Stephan chased her into the creek.”

Kurt laughed then, and the tension was broken. She leaned up and kissed him, intending only for it to be a chaste thing. The moment she touched his soft velvety lips, she found it harder and harder to focus. His hands began to wander and she remembered she was tired and they had work to do in the morning.

“Oh no, it's sleep time,” she said, but she didn't sound very convincing, even to herself. She rolled over again, pushing her back into his chest.

“As you wish, _liebchen_,” he said, and his movements became slow and languorous, soft caresses down her arms and legs and ribcage.

She let out a deep sigh as he added little kisses along her neck and behind her ear. His tail wrapped around her ankle and began kneading her calf sensuously. Kitty stretched and Kurt whispered in her ear.

“I've wanted you for so long, I'm sorry, I can't seem to keep my hands off you.” She pushed his hand between her legs.

He needed no further direction, and while he began pleasing her, she reached behind and found him. She ran her hand over the hard bulge in his briefs, then slipped inside to feel the smooth skin as she gripped him. She moved her hand carefully over him, squeezing gently and feeling the skin slide over the muscle. He sighed low against her ear and said, “Harder, love, a little...yes—like that, oh _Gott_...”

His hand between her legs faltered, but she didn't mind. The sounds he was making as she touched him were thrilling enough for now. She could feel him beginning to tremble, and his fist in front of her clutched the edge of the sleeping bag.

The closer he got, the more he wanted to be inside her. “_Bitte, Kätzchen_, stop, let me—I want to be inside you, _please_.”

She stopped, phased her panties off, and spread her legs wide as she rolled forward. He grabbed her hips and guided himself in from behind her, laying himself across her back as he thrust. The different angle changed everything, and afterwards, she was too tired to do much more than whisper, “I love you,” and close her eyes.

  
  


Waking up the second morning in Kurt's arms was even better than the first, mostly because she knew he loved her too. She was content and happy to be held, until he started kissing her neck and running his hand over her backside, to her thigh.

As good as it felt, she was starving. “Kurt,” she said, trying to pry his hand away from her butt. “Kurt, I need to eat something.”

“Mmm,” was his only response as he kissed her neck again. But he rolled away after that and onto his toes, picking up their few discarded items of clothing before going out of the tent.

  
  


“It isn't too much farther to the first possible location,” Kurt said, looking at the map with her after they'd eaten. “We'll probably make it in a few hours.”

There was nothing in the first clearing. They surveyed the empty meadow, hands on hips, scratching their heads.

“Is the whole ring gone, or was it never here?” Kitty said.

“I suppose we don't know,” Kurt replied. “We'll have to go to the second one. If there's nothing there either, then perhaps that is the problem with the rings. We'll have to get in touch with Meggan as to how to make that repair.”

“I don't know anything about building stone rings,” Kitty said, taking his hand. He kissed her head affectionately and suggested they have lunch before moving on.

They stayed well to the edge of the meadow, in case there was some magic at work in the center. After lunch they took a turn around the meadow, checking for signs of things having been there, but they didn't see anything that looked like what they expected to find. Not even a ring of mushrooms.

A few hours later, as the sky clouded over again with dark clouds, they stepped into the edge of the second meadow. There was no doubt that this was the right place. In the center of the clearing were stones of various sizes, a few upright but most tipped onto their sides. One had been dragged from the circle several feet out.

“Should we get started now?” Kitty said, eyeing the sky above them.

“I think it would be wise to put up the tent first,” Kurt said. “Then we'll see what we can accomplish before this downpour hits.”

It was a work of only a few minutes to get the tent set up near the edge of the clearing, and they dumped their packs inside before taking inventory of the damage to the ring.

“If I phase the rocks, maybe we can lift them then. Or push them upright?”

“Worth a try. I've no better ideas.”

They positioned themselves on the outside of the circle behind one of the tipped stones, Kurt winding his tail around her closest leg so he could be phased along with her and the stone. By the time they got the thing upright, they were both worn out. Kitty sat down hard on the grass beside the stone.

“There has _got_ to be a better way,” she said, letting out a huff of breath. Kurt flopped to his back beside her.

“A lever?”

“Yeah. If we can find a decent sized branch. Some ancient people managed to do this, so you'd think a couple of advanced, homo-superior can, too.” She fluffed his hair and the sky opened up.

Kurt teleported them into the tent, but they were both pretty wet anyway.

“It would be so nice to make it through a single day of this hike without having to peel drenched clothes off,” Kitty said.

“Allow me then,” Kurt said, reaching for her shirt and crawling closer to her to kiss her.

“You've been talking to Storm, haven't you?” Kitty said around his lips as she tugged his shirt up to his shoulders. “Screw it,” she muttered and phased everything off. She kicked it into the corner and pushed him to the floor, stretching herself along his length.

She rested her chin on his chest, and waited for him to start teasing her, but he seemed content to lie there with her like that. He put his arms around her and locked his leg between hers, but that was all. Kitty thought she could have fallen asleep like that.

“Are you hungry?” he said, and his chest vibrated under her cheek.

“Not really. Not yet. Are you?”

“Yes.”

She looked up at the tone of his voice and felt him stir against her belly, but he still didn't move. “I better do something about that,” she said, stroking down the length of his torso and the top of his thigh.

“Only if you want to. We've been pretty intense.”

She continued running her hand up and down his side, teasing her fingers along the inside of his thigh and over the hard buds of his nipples. “I want to make you feel good.”

She heard the sharp intake of his breath and pushed herself up, kissing his chest and flicking her tongue across his nipples as her hands moved tortuously closer to his erection.

Kurt had no idea what she was planning, and frankly didn't care. Her hands were on him, her lips were on him, she wanted to make him feel good, and he might be having an out of body experience. His breath was ragged and his heart was racing the closer she got. When she dragged one slim finger up the underside of his shaft, he bucked, clenching his teeth as he tried to keep still and let her have her way with him.

She moved between his legs, rocked back on her knees, dancing her hands all over his thighs and his belly, sometimes sliding between his legs and teasing him there.

“_Bitte_, wait,” he gasped out after she stroked all the way up the center of him and over the head of his penis. “I need—just a minute.”

She sat back and waited while he tried to calm himself down a little. He opened his eyes in time to see her give him a positively wicked look, then she bent her head and licked him.

“Oh _Gott_,” he groaned, and she sucked the tip of him into her mouth. He groaned and clenched at the edges of the sleeping bag and tried valiantly to hold out and enjoy what she was doing to him. “I can't—oh—Kitty—I'm going to come—”

He lay panting as she finished, and she leaned back down beside him, draping one leg across his thigh. Kurt tucked her close to his shoulder, and then rolled towards her, wrapping himself around her. She giggled into his fur.

“Was that all right?” she asked.

“You're joking, right? _Gott, liebchen_, was it _all right_? I don't know how to explain to you how much more than _all right_ it was...”

She giggled again, and he kissed the top of her head. Then he kissed her cheek and her lips and down her throat, and her giggles turned to sighs and then to soft moans. He cupped her backside and pulled her close as he sucked at the dip of her collarbone and made her shiver.

His hand moved to her breast, tracing the smooth underside before rubbing across the nipple with his thumb. Kitty squeaked and sucked in a breath, and his hand holding her hips against his slid down until he was stroking alongside her most sensitive areas. It was payback, she thought, for teasing him, but no, he didn't make her wait. His finger dipped inside her and then slid along swollen flesh until she groaned.

He adjusted himself and continued playing with her, kissing and flicking his tongue across smooth shoulders and across her breast. Kitty had her eyes squeezed shut, her face pressing against his chest as pleasure coiled and uncoiled in her abdomen. It was never-ending, sensation giving way to sensation as he kept up the delicious motions of his fingers and lips and tongue.

Finally she managed to clamp her legs shut and he stopped, lifted his head to look at her face. “Stop,” she breathed, though he already had. He held her close again, waiting patiently for her senses to return.

Several minutes later, she moved again. “What was that?”

He didn't try to answer her rhetorical question, just rubbed her back and held her close. A few more minutes passed in quiet, the only sound the rain spattering against the tent, and Kurt's soft breathing near her ear.

“I don't think I can move,” Kitty said.

“That might cause some difficulty with the mission,” he said, not moving either.

“You'll have to leave me here to recover.”

“I'll keep you company.”

“We'll never get home that way.”

“When we run out of food we'll have to go back.”

“Dammit.”

He ran his fingers over her cheek and said, serious now, “You don't think this is over when we go back, do you?”

“Of course not.”

“Good. Because I don't intend to ever let you go.”

“Creepy, but romantic.”

He kissed her forehead. “That's my tagline.”

She laughed and tested her limbs for functionality. Finding them still working, she rolled up and reached for his shirt. He quirked his brow at her, and she blushed. “Do you mind?”

“Of course.” He didn't bother to dress at all when he sat up, pulling his pack over to root around for a meal they didn't have to cook. They ate in an easy silence for a little while, listening to the rain.

“If this keeps up, the ground will be too soft to use a lever,” Kitty said, peeking out through the tent flap where she'd lowered the zipper a little.

“That would be par for the course of this mission,” Kurt muttered. “Or at least, the mission part of this mission.”

She closed the flap again and scooted closer to him. “We did get something pretty good out of it.”

He leaned over and kissed her chastely. “_Ja_. We did.”

  
  


It was still raining in the morning, and Kurt was getting stir crazy. “We could attempt repairs in the rain,” he said as they ate breakfast.

“And get soaked again?” Kitty said, then smirked. “Or we could just leave our clothes in the tent and...”

He gave her an incredulous look, and then laughed. “Somehow I doubt the temperatures would make frolicking naked in the rain much fun for very long, _liebchen_.”

“Too bad,” she said. “So. What'll we do then?”

“We'll have to do what we did in the caravan when the weather got too bad to go out and we were stuck inside for days.”

“Have more sex?”

“_Was_? _Nein_!” He shook his head. “I think you're developing a bit of a fixation, _schatz_.”

“On you? That's old news.”

“Really?”

She nodded emphatically. “Ancient.”

He waited, but she said nothing. “You're not going to tell me more?”

“And swell your head even more? Not likely.” She chewed her lip for a second and relented, “Okay, fine.” She sat forward and before she even began to speak, he could see the blush rising in her cheeks. “I've liked you for a long time. Before Pete, before Alistaire. Way back.”

“Really? Before Alistaire?”

“Well, maybe the same time.”

“I had no idea.”

“You weren't supposed to. It was a secret.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one thing, I was only a kid, and you were already an adult. And I figured it was just a crush, right, but you were my teammate, and team leader, and I didn't think I should be pursuing that kind of thing.”

“I had similar thoughts about you.”

“Your turn then.”

“I think I've always loved you in some capacity. As a friend at first, and then...I don't know exactly when it changed.”

“I bet you didn't love me when I screamed at you and vanished through a roof,” she said with a smirk.

“Love is a strong word, but I was certainly intrigued by you. There you were, a little girl, running all night through this huge city and evading the Hellfire Club. You were ready to run more when you saw me, even though you were past exhaustion. I thought you were incredible.”

Kitty sat stunned by his words. “Wow. That...actually makes me feel worse.”

“_Nein_, it shouldn't. It's not meant to.”

“Well. You thought all those nice things about me and all I could think was to get as far away from you as possible. I thought you were with the Hellfire Club. I figured it'd be like them to hire a demon to catch me.”

“Which is exactly why you shouldn't feel bad. You had no idea who I was.”

“You told me who you were.”

“So? Villains lie every day, _liebchen_. Until you had some proof, you had no way of knowing. Slinging you over my shoulder up the side of a building was probably not the best way to prove I was there to help you.”

She sighed. “Well, there's nothing to be done about it anyway.”

“No. There isn't.”

“And I saved you enough times to make up for it anyway.”

He chuckled. “_Ja_, that is also true.”

The rain continued unabated outside, and Kurt curled up on the sleeping bag.

“You're not going to get dressed unless the rain stops, are you?” she said, letting her eyes roam his lean frame.

“Not planning on it.”

“I think you're a secret exhibitionist.”

“_Was_?”

“You like to show off for people.”

“Have you forgotten I was a circus performer?” His tail flicked.

“No, I mean, an exhibitionist shows off their body.”

He rolled over. “Only for you, _liebes_.”

“I don't think so, buddy. I know about your ex-girlfriends.”

“How do you know they ever saw me naked?”

Kitty laughed. “You're hilarious. We've pretty much lived under the same roof for the last six years, Kurt. None of those places have particularly thick walls.”

He'd curled up again, and Kitty swore he was blushing under his fur. “You can't seriously think I'd believe you never did it with any of them?”

“No, I don't. I just didn't realize how, uh, how much you might have been privy to.”

“I wasn't standing around listening! Geez! Besides, you bragged enough.”

“I did no such thing!”

“You do! Don't you remember Anjulie?”

His smile melted. “Of course. Now that, _meine Liebe_, that was a mistake. A real one.”

“I know, Fuzzy, relax. I was only pointing out that you made no secret of what you two did, and that was a one-night stand.”

“I suppose you could call it that.” He still looked sober, and Kitty was sorry she'd brought it up.

She curled up beside him and kissed his cheek. “I didn't mean to upset you. I don't care about her, okay? I only meant, I knew...I was just trying to play around. I'm sorry.”

He gently pushed her to the ground, and tucked his head on her shoulder. “I allowed Anjulie to do what she did, but I suspect, even if I hadn't, she would have had her way.”

“Why do you think I killed her?”

He lifted his head again and stared. “I thought it was an accident.”

“Yeah, no. I killed her on purpose. Not just for you, but...but mostly.” She didn't move. “Do you hate me now?”

“Of course not. But I wonder how you knew?”

“She pretty much said she'd made you her lover, and you didn't look all that happy when you showed up.”

“I never told you about that. I never really told anyone.”

“You told us enough.”

“I shouldn't have told _you_ any of it,” he said, wrapping his arm around her waist.

“I was fifteen, Kurt, I knew what sex was.”

“But you didn't need to know your _friend_ was doing that.”

She stroked his face and kissed him again. “It's okay, Kurt. It's not your fault I killed her. I would have anyway.”

“I dare say she deserved it. She was a terrible person.”

“I know. Anyone who hurts you is pretty rotten.”

“You're biased.”

“I'm your best friend. I'm supposed to be.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Kurt didn't like to think about Anjulie. She felt like a black mark on his soul, a mistake he couldn't rinse away. Now, adding to the offense, to learn Kitty had killed her for him, _because_ of him, only made it worse. He'd tainted her, too, and hadn't even realized. He felt the need to unburden himself, to lighten the load and let Kitty share it. It was a foolish thought, and selfish. Two days together was far too new for that sort of thing. But they'd been friends for so much longer, and truthfully, he probably could have told her long ago and she wouldn't have stopped him.

“You know about the boat full of pirates, right? Kymri's people fighting Anjulie's?”

Kitty nodded. “You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.”

“I know. But I do. Do you mind?”

“No of course not. As long as you know it's not me asking. I wouldn't pry.”

“After I defeated Kymri's people, I was feeling pretty full of myself until Anjulie knocked me out. I woke disoriented in a hot tub.”

“Damn.”

“No powers, no clothes, no idea where I was or how I'd gotten there. I have no idea what happened while I was unconscious, or even how long I was out.”

“She came in out of nowhere,” Kurt continued after a pause. “She threw herself at me, dragged me under the water, kissing me and making it pretty clear what she was going to do. At the time, I could hardly believe my luck. That beautiful woman wanted _me_?”

Kitty could feel his heart beating in his chest against her side, always a little fast. Her own was keeping pace, anger boiling away inside that this had even happened. It didn't matter that it was over five years ago. It was Kurt, and that woman had used him and hurt him, and Kitty wanted to kill her again.

“She was...what is the word?” he tried to think, then went on. “She could not seem to get enough.”

“Insatiable,” Kitty said.

“_Ja_. I don't know what she did to me, but it wasn't anything good. Too much of her wine and other things. I think I eventually passed out.” Kitty's hand trembled against his head as she ran her fingers through his hair. She didn't know if she was trying to soothe him, or herself.

“Afterwards, I overheard her talking to a guard and realized things were much worse than I'd suspected.”

“I'm not sorry I killed her.”

“I'm not sure I am either,” he said. “But I'll never forget the look on your face.”

“Or yours.”

The rain started to lessen, and the loud spattering became a softer shushing sound. Kurt sat up and kissed her long and slow. “I love you.”

“I love you, Kurt.”

Things had turned altogether too serious, and she was relieved when he said, “The rain stopped.” He crouched at the opening of the tent, and pulling it open to show her. “Come on, get dressed, let's get out of this tent for a while.”

The air was still damp and clingy, but the rain had finally stopped, and now water only dripped from tree branches, managing to land on the back of her head and drip down her neck more often than not.

They trekked over to the stone ring again, and pushed at another stone, which was no more cooperative than the last one.

“At this rate, it will only take us,” he paused to count, “two more days.”

“How'd you figure that?”

“One every six hours.”

“If only Piotr were here. He'd have them upright in two minutes.” She chewed her lip. “When is Moira's conference over?”

“I don't remember. I didn't even know she was going until she was leaving.”

“Kurt, let's call her. Let's have her drop Piotr off to us. This is stupid, you and I can't do this alone. These things weigh a ton.”

“I suppose it can't hurt.” He went back to the tent to get his comlink while Kitty searched for the materials they'd need to make a decent lever, big enough to move the stones. She could hear him talking, so he must have reached Moira.

He came trotting back, grinning. “You're a genius. She's on her way back right this very minute. She said she'll drop him when she flies over.”

“What're the odds that she'd be on her way back _right now_?”

“With this mission? I'd say pretty good.”

She looked at the stones. “I'm not going back in that tent unless it starts raining again.”

“Me either. Let's go cook something to eat.”

  
  


“I didn't think about the wood being so soggy after all this rain,” Kurt said when the fire refused to light.

“Yeah.” She picked her chin off her hand and looked at him. “How is Piotr going to get home? There's only one tent and he is _not_ sleeping in it with us.”

Kurt laughed. “Moira will have to come get him.”

“Good, she can take us all home.”

He put a hand around her waist and pulled her closer. “Are you sure you want to?”

“Am I sure I want to go home and sleep in a real bed and eat real food? Yes.”

He feigned a pout, and she kissed him. “I don't need a tent to sleep with you.”

“We'll have Moira bring more food. Besides, we have to get the cart.”

“Oh, dammit,” Kitty said, rolling her eyes. “Guess we have to hike back then.”

He grinned and started to kiss her, when they were both startled by engines overhead. “Well, here's Piotr,” Kitty said.

Last time Kitty had a boyfriend, Colossus had nearly killed him. What would he do to _him_ if he took offense?

Colossus fell to the ground without a parachute, landing with a thud and a squelch of mud that shot in all directions.

“Sorry,” he said, as Kitty and Kurt wiped mud from their faces.

“Quite all right,” Kurt said. “As long as you can help us with this.” Kurt pointed to the fallen stones. “We have to right them all and drag that loose one back to the circle.”

“What is this for?” Piotr asked, and Kitty gave him the abbreviated explanation. It took Piotr only a few minutes to get all the stones upright, and only a few more to drag the lost one back.

The moment it was done, the whole place lit up with light from the center, shining for whole minutes while the three of them backed away. And then it was gone.

“What was that?” Piotr said.

“I guess the druids all went home at once,” Kitty said. “Let's call Moira.”

A few hours later, allowing her time to land and change and eat, round up more supplies, and clothes and return, Piotr left again. Kitty watched the jet fly away, and the trees rustling in the wind it kicked up.

“Meggan was wrong about using the jet,” Kurt said.

“Y'know,” Kitty said. “If I didn't know better, I'd say this was all a big setup.”

“_Was_?”

“Yeah, so Moira just _happens_ to go to a conference she didn't tell you about, that she just _has_ to take the entire rest of the team to; Meggan _happens_ to need our help, which _happens_ to require we hike together, _alone_, for days, with a faulty tent, a faulty electric cart with a bad battery and no backup...if I didn't know any better, I'd say they planned it all out.”

Kurt rubbed his chin speculatively.

“Huh.”

They sat around the remains of the campfire, lit with help from Moira's supply run. Kitty leaned against his chest since she couldn't see him in the dark at all, and he tugged her close as he bent forward. His breath brushed against her ear. “It seems to me if they went to all that trouble, we should not disappoint them.” And he began to nibble at her ear and down her neck.

“We wouldn't want to do that,” she said, arching her neck for him. He picked her up and carried her into the tent, kissing her and murmuring love and devotion until she covered his mouth with hers and kissed him into silence.

**Author's Note:**

> Kurt was humming "Heaven" or "Cheek to Cheek" by Fred Astaire.


End file.
